


A Little Shock To My System

by lostin_space



Series: Whumptober2020❤️️ [2]
Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Electrocution, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Restraints, Torture, Trauma, Whumptober 2020, shock collar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:00:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26774029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostin_space/pseuds/lostin_space
Summary: There was something about alien bodies that retained electricity. A shock could bounce around inside them for hours, an agonizing feeling that had made Michael bedridden for two days the first six times they’d electrocuted him when they were little and the tests had started.
Relationships: Michael Guerin/Alex Manes
Series: Whumptober2020❤️️ [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947301
Comments: 8
Kudos: 60
Collections: Roswell New Mexico ▶ Michael Guerin / Alex Manes





	A Little Shock To My System

**Author's Note:**

> whumptober day 2: collars
> 
> if i missed any tags, let me know

Alex took a deep breath, preparing for this stupid, stupid test.

The older he got, the more mindlessly heinous they seemed to get. He understood the need. They needed to be trained for every single situation they could come up with regardless of how horrific. But, God, this was unfair. His fingers itched as he listened to the countdown.

Through the gate and across the room, Michael laid tied down with yellow pollen infused rope and a shock collar around his neck. Every time he breathed too hard, moved too much, it’d shock him. Alex had already heard his agonized scream twice before Michael realized screaming only made it worse. Alex didn’t have to be close enough to hear him to know he was whimpering.

There was something about alien bodies that retained electricity. A shock could bounce around inside them for hours, an agonizing feeling that had made Michael bedridden for two days the first six times they’d electrocuted him when they were little and the tests had started. They were 10 when the physical tests started. Six years later, they didn’t get any easier.

“Three... Two... One.”

The buzzer sounded and the gate in front of Alex opened as the lights shut off. He had to find the key to the shock collar and find something to free him from his restraints in under five minutes. Neither of them could make a noise above 25dB, separate or combined.

Alex took inaudible steps as he’d been taught, letting Michael’s slightly loud breathing and occasional whimper fill the sound limit. And Alex closed his eyes, walking one foot in front of the other as he started to walk the circumference of the test room in order to find the key. He tried to ignore Michael’s noises. Those didn’t get any easier to listen to either.

He got closer to Michael as he walked, still not feeling where the key had been hidden somewhere in the dirt floor. Alex tried his damnedest to be in tune to where exactly Michael was, but he still accidentally stepped on his hair and it pulled his head just enough to set the collar off. Michael grunted as quietly as he could manage and guilt seeped into Alex’s stomach as it often did. He would make up for it later, but, in that moment, Alex crouched down and touched his arm as a silent apology before moving on. He could feel his skin buzzing.

Alex kept walking. The worst part about these tests was that there was a timer, just not one he could hear. He just had to guess how much time he had left. He couldn’t move too slow, he’d run out of time. He couldn’t move too fast, he’d make mistakes. So he kept walking, kept feeling for a key and trusting his internal clock.

He felt the abnormality in the ground and skillfully dropped to his knees, feeling for it. And there were two keys. Of course there were. He kept them in his hands and started crawling back to Michael, feeling outwards for him. He touched his stomach and let out a soft breath in relief. He let his hand drag up his chest and carefully to the collar.

There was a comfort in being a pair since birth, a comfort in which no touch was off limits because their bodies stopped being their own the minute they were chosen for each other. They were each other’s property. Alex knew, though, that he had feelings for it in a way he shouldn’t. There was a comfort, yes, but Alex craved it in a way he’d never heard another pair express. That was why his father put those chips in them, to keep him for doing something pairs shouldn’t. Still, he let his hand linger as he touched his chest, hoping to extend his comfort to Michael

“I’m here,” Alex breathed, closing his eyes and focusing everything into finding the lock without setting off the collar. The electric parts lined the inside, not the outside, but it would still hurt them both if he accidentally set it off. Michael held his breath to be extra still.

Alex found the lock on the underside of the collar at the base of his neck. He wanted to kill whoever designed this. Alex pressed his finger to Michael’s chin, carefully tilting his head back to minimize the effect. He complied easily.

He kept his hand steady as he inserted the first key into the lock to find it did nothing. Of course. Alex jerked his hand back as the wrong key set off another shock. Michael’s body jolted, pulling on the restraints. Alex ran his hand down his side to soothe him before going back in with the other key and hoping this one worked. He turned it slowly and was relieved when it clicked.

Alex moved it carefully and then slid his hand under Michael’s head, lifting it off the electric parts in the back. He quickly flung it across the room. Michael immediately breathed in and Alex scratched the back of his head.

“Knife?” Michael said, his words nearly inaudible, but Alex understood.

Alex didn’t answer, just leaned over and took the key tightly in his hand. Michael held his hands as far apart as he could to keep the ropes tight. Alex dug the jagged edge into the ropes and striked once, twice, three times until it popped. He mimicked the action with the ropes on his ankles until he was free.

Alex immediately pulled him into his lap, running his fingers through his hair as he cradled him. Michael was still vibrating from electricity and Alex figured it was enough to keep him bedridden for the next 24 hours. Whether they’d actually allow him to do so was another story.

They barely got to calm down before the lights turned back on, blinding them. Alex hunched over to both shield Michael’s eyes and his own.

“New record,” Dr. Kit said, clear pride in her otherwise robotic voice, “Three minutes, 2.7 seconds.”

Alex ignored her, touching Michael’s face.

“Can you walk?” he asked softly. Michael nodded, but Alex grabbed his arm anyway. He lifted him and pulled Michael’s arm over his shoulder, his other arm going around his waist to take the brunt of his weight. In the light, Alex could see his irritated skin. He walked him to the doors that slid open for them.

The other pairs in their rank stared with wide eyes, all clearly either impressed or envious of their new record. And they only had to do it once. That wouldn’t be the same for most of them.

“What was your secret?” one of them asked, “How’d you do it so fast?”

“Move,” Alex snapped. They did and he walked Michael to one of the waiting room couches. He sat him there and knelt in front of him. His eyes were shaking, his pupils blown and covered with scar-colored lightning bolts, a tiny visual to how the rest of him was reacting as well. “I’ll get you some water.”

They sat there until the two of them were dismissed and then they headed to their shared apartment. Apartment was a loose term. It had two separate rooms and a bathroom and a kitchenette, but all of that was small. It would be enough until they aged out. Ten more years...

Alex all but carried Michael to his room, placing him in his bed after shaking off as much of the dirt as he could. He took Michael’s shoes and socks off before pulling his blanket over him.

“I’m cold,” Michael breathed, still quiet like they were back in that room.

“Give it a second, it’ll warm up,” Alex promised, sitting beside him and rubbing his blanket covered arm. Michael shook his head, clearly still hurting and pent up with electricity that sent his entire system askew.

“ _Cold_.”

Alex got the hint and took his own shoes off before laying down on the edge of the bed, creating a barrier between Michael and the door. Michael, as shaky as he was, opened the corner of the blanket and welcomed Alex closer. Alex faced the door as Michael clung to him from behind for warmth. He ran his hand across the place the mattress met the springs and found the gun there. Alex checked that the safety was on before placing it beneath the pillow for easier access.

Once that was settled, Alex adjusted himself in bed and grabbed Michael’s hands, breathing against them gently for a little more heat. He knew his body temperature would be fluctuating for the next couple days as he slowly worked off the electricity. He gave it an hour before he was sweating through his clothes.

“Hopefully we’ll get tomorrow off,” Alex whispered, blowing into Michael’s shaky hands again. 

His face was pressed into Alex’s back and he was slowly nudging his leg to interlock with Alex’s. It was another one of the billions of reasons why Alex felt they were a little different than most pairs. Did they lay together like this? He was too scared to ask, scared to be shamed into stopping.

“Just rest,” Alex told him, “You deserve it.”

Michael rested. Alex kept watch.

**Author's Note:**

> also on my tumblr: spaceskam


End file.
